What rotten luck! For 2014, chef and Momofuku restaurant founder David Chang predicts that fermented, preserved and cured foods will be on the tips of everyone’s tongues this year.

So go ahead and spoil yourself—and your veggies.

“I think 2014 is going to be a year about the things that have gone rotten, in a good way,” Chang tells PEOPLE in the exclusive video below. “I think you’re going to see a lot more pickles … anything that’s aged.” he says. “It’s the one thing where we can find new flavors. As a chef, that’s the most exciting thing. As a diner, you’ll be able to experience that on menus very soon.”

From housemade soy to Sriracha, 2014 is also shaping up to be saucy—and Chang passionately defends a certain hotter-than-ever spicy condiment, even though fellow food star Andrew Zimmern recently knocked the ubiquitous Sriracha, calling it “the most overrated item of the last 20 years.”

Chang begs to differ: “I don’t understand how he could hate something so loving and giving,” the chef jokes. “It’s just goodness. It’s good on everything … We’ve had Sriracha on our menus for 10 years now.” A few of his suggested unorthodox pairings? Try it on pizza, with ketchup on French fries, or on noodles.

But don’t expect a hot sauce war anytime soon, as these two experts agree on one thing. “I wish I invested in the company,” Chang notes of Sriracha’s overwhelming success. Zimmern concurs: “I wish I owned this company.”